In order to be considered to have a “free floating” barrel, a rifle handguard must attach only at its proximal end and cannot be attached to the barrel at a distal point. Some prior handguards that accommodate a free floating barrel have attached the proximal end to the upper receiver. These require a specialized upper receiver to be paired with the handguard. Other handguards have integrated a specialized barrel nut, which can be used with an ordinary and standard upper receiver, but require a nonstandard barrel nut. In these, when removal of the handguard requires removal of the barrel nut, the barrel is also released.